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Awesome!! One of the first songs I learned on guitar!! The rhythm part, not the lead. My brother on the drums, a neighbor kid on the vocals.....we thought we were bad ass!! At least most of the neighborhood girls thought we were!! LOL!!! Good times man, GOOD TIMES!!!!

Circa 1979....maybe 1980??? Wow, that was a blast!!!

Posted Aug-18-2012 By

dirtbiker201

@dirtbiker201 Yep, pretty much the same story for me but I learned it on accoustic from my sisters boyfriends brother, who I only saw once in a while so I learned it wrong off a piece of paper with a crude chord structure but it made me create parts I couldn't remember which led to writing my own songs which led to bands which led to drugs, sex and rock and roll, which derailed my college path but set me on another learning path that few will ever experience and that I will never regret or forgeMore..t.
I made my living playing music.
I made my living doing nude photography.
I have had so much fun in this life that if I died tomorrow I would feel guilty for having so much fun while others were reaching for an improbable dream.
But only for an instant and then I would mock them for imagining there is something beyond and grubbing for wealth which means nothing because you can't take it with you and if you have spent your life being a money grubbing asshole, chances are your kids turned out to be total dicks who don't deserve all the shit you worked so hard for before kicking the bucket.
My kids are awesome, loving, caring individuals who take nothing for granted and lead happy, fulfilling lives.
What one leaves their children is far more than "stuff".
But yeah, great song, I forgot how great Alvin Lee was.
I graduated in 78 and was in bands playing at bars at 16 or 17.
Big fun, cute girls fighting over you.
Not bad for a shy boy ;o)Less..

Posted Aug-18-2012 By

K9COP

This was a great song (musically) when I was growing up, but once I paid attention to the lyrics, well, not so much.

Rant time. Thumbs down if you can't see past the nose on your face.

Consider this verse:

Tax the rich
Feed the poor
Till there are no
Rich no more

It has bothered me for decades. If only he had said, "until there are no poor no more"...

But he didn't.

Tax the rich to feed the poor, make that the poor's only hope, then destroy their food source?

ThisMore.. shows that uplifting the poor is not part of the plan. The poor can go pound sand as far as this guy's concerned--he's only interested in hurting the rich.

Taxing the rich to feed the poor is unsustainable. He says so himself: "till there are no rich no more". What happens to the poor--who have been set up to receive sustenance from the rich--when, inevitably, 'there are no rich no more'? Well, the author doesn't give a shit about that.

Educate the poor on how to become rich themselves? Oh no, we can't have that. We won't teach them how to fish, so they can get their own dinner every night. Instead, we'll take fish from the rich in order to feed the poor, they'll remain dependent...and then what will they eat when we have accomplished our goal of destroying the rich? They've been set up for failure. They've been set up to starve.

Posted Aug-18-2012 By

cleetusawreetus

@cleetusawreetus Actually there are versions of the song where he does say exactly that.
No idea how old you are but this song is a song of the times it was written in.
Very large resistance to the war and to government itself.
The "Hippies" back then were not that far removed from the "teabaggers" of today.
Yes, I say teabaggers because I mock and ridicule their extremely narrow and limited belief system and their refusal to compromise on any issue.
They are idiots and shoulMore..d be mocked and are the reason congress has the lowest approval rating EVER.
But I digress.......
The times were changing and people for the first time really felt they had the power to affect the governmental institutions and the status quo.
It was the first time we realized as a nation that war was wrong and by gathering together we could make a difference.
That WE, The People still mattered.
The hippies were fucking patriots, just not blind, flag waving patriots.
They almost made great changes.
Then came the antichrist ronnie rayguns and we have been in a downward spiral since and are just now making the last circles around the bottom of the toilet bowl.
The hippies were right.
Reagan was totally and completely wrong.
His system never did and never will work.
It's voodoo economics.
It is fake and it has failed more than once over numerous years.
I guess only the young or retarded believe in it.
By retarded I mean really fucking stupid people who have no idea what is going on but they can still hold a job at walmart sometimes or show up to the food stamp office and scream "DEY TUK UR JERBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In conclusion........
This song is just as relevant today as the day it was written.
Maybe more so.
Yes, he could have and eventually did say "till there are no poor no more".
But as it was written it perfectly fit the times and that is why you, and everyone else is able to remember it today.Less..

Posted Aug-19-2012 By

Tongueboy

Thanks, I appreciate your response. We're not going to see eye to eye on a lot of this, but it's nice to have even a small back and forth without a whole bunch of invective.

My point was limited to my observance over the years (b. 1962) that often people claim to champion the cause of poverty, but their words and actions reveal indifference to the poor, showing far more preoccupation with resentment of the rich.

I've also observed that most of those that hate the rich would love tMore..o be rich themselves.

I still think it's a terrible verse. It could be paraphrased like this:

Let's capture and flog the golden goose
We'll make it the poor's only hope for food
Then we'll keep flogging it till it's dead!
(Any surviving poor can eat our good intentions.)

Any school child could tell you the poor are getting fucked on that one.Less..

Posted Aug-19-2012 By

cleetusawreetus

@cleetusawreetus I also enjoy being able to actually discuss things as opposed to frenzied and worthless name calling.
As I said, in later versions he changed the wording to "till there are no poor no more".
I think he regretted the initial verse.
I agree that some use the poor as a tool or a wedge.
Would most poor people like to be rich?
Probably but for very different reasons than most I assume.
I think the main reason the poor would like to be rich is simply freedom from worry.
No lMore..onger having to worry about the very basics of survival.
Food, clothing and shelter.
The rich just seem to want to be richer with no apparent useful motivation.
They do not "need" more money.
They simply want it.
Many have more than they could ever spend in a lifetime but they still want more.
That is madness.
It's like having a lifetimes supply of butter but doing everything in your power to get even more butter, even though you will never use it.
I grew up in poverty.
Not third world poverty but American poverty of the 60's and 70's.
I grew up feeling ashamed that I was so poor.
Of course I was a child so it was not my fault but it cut deeply.
I was ashamed and so grateful that people brought us food and presents and left them on our doorstep on holidays.
It made me cry and hurt that we needed it and that someone could be so kind.
I cried when my Mother had to give us school clothes as x-mas presents.
Not because I was jealous of the rich kids but because I hurt for my Mother.
I know what it is like to grow up poor.
I was not and still am not jealous of rich people.
I live a very simple life and am very happy with what I have.
It is the all consuming greed and disdain for all those who are "have nots" that I totally despise and fight against.
A child of poverty has no choice in the matter.
Mocking poor children makes me very angry.
Poor people have children and poor people are mocked and looked down on.
They do not envy the rich or want to take everything from the rich.
They simply want to be seen as fellow human beings on this very short ride we are all allowed.
As for the lyrics, it's a utopian fantasy where all are equal and there is no need for rich or poor labels or war or disagreement.
A very popular theme in its time.
I don't think he hated the rich.
I think he hated the way the rich look down on the poor.
This is just my opinion as I never met the guy or was even lucky enough to see him live.
His later changing of the lyrics tells me he grew out of some of his youthful idealism and accepted the reality of this fucked up, totally not fair and balanced world we all live in.
Thanks for taking the time to make an intelligent reply.
I really appreciate it.Less..

Posted Aug-20-2012 By

Tongueboy

I am momentarily struck silent by your heartfelt post. I feel honored that you would speak so plainly.

Looks like we are about the same age. I too grew up in sparse pickings. And I'm still below the poverty level--chalk it up to decades of hedonism and folly. (Also, chronic use of chronic ensured my motivation never got too frisky.) So I'm one that has lifetime experience with the unrelenting anxiety that comes with never knowing how I'm going to come up with the rent. Or at leastMore.. knowing, rent paid, that I can look forward to a month of doing nothing, just driving back and forth to work so I can get a paycheck, so I can fill my tank, so I can get to work. And times have never been bleaker than they are right now.

I suppose I wouldn't mind being rich. It would have to land on me, because it's very unlikely I'll make it happen. I know that I am where I am because of decisions I've made along the way. Nobody can be blamed for my financial situation but myself. But I'm sure if I were rich, I would quickly find my anxieties would merely change, not go away.

The thing about 'the poor' and 'the rich' in America is, it's not static. Some folks work hard, pull themselves out, find success. Others run around, high on the hog, blow it all and end up mumbling and holding a sign on Cahuenga Blvd.

I need to remind myself I have nothing to complain about. I have a job, a place to live, a car, a computer, internet--there's poverty in America for you. We should be thankful for every breath.

I never knew Alvin Lee addressed the issue of that lyric. That really changes my thinking on it all. I've talked about that song for so many years--about that verse--and now I find I wasn't crazy, it really did feel wrong in its first version. Thanks for that.

Well, shee-it, holmes--now when I see you on here I'm going to think of you as a friend. See how music draws people together?Less..